Suns reportedly get permission to interview Sixers’ Monty Williams

By Matt Layman | April 23, 2019 at 12:32 pmUPDATED: April 23, 2019 at 3:18 pm

Assistant coach Monty Williams of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on against the Brooklyn Nets in Game Two of Round One of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at the Wells Fargo Center on April 15, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

Wojnarowski followed up to say that Williams is in fact the Suns’ top candidate in their search to replace Igor Kokoskov, who was fired on Monday night.

Wojnarowski reported Monday night that the Suns’ desire to hire Williams was part of the timing of Kokoskov’s firing. The Los Angeles Lakers, who fired head coach Luke Walton at the conclusion of their season, are also said to be in on Williams and will give him a second interview.

If Williams is presented with job offers from both teams, he’d be forced to choose between two organizations trying to stabilize themselves after suffering turmoil in recent times.

The Suns infamously have had instability in both their on-court product and with their basketball operations department, leading to a 19-63 finish this past season. Kokoskov, a first-year head coach, was tasked with coaching a Suns team that just had the No. 1 overall pick and no starting caliber point guard. The team also canned its GM, Ryan McDonough, nine days prior to the start of the regular season.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were in headlines after Magic Johnson suddenly resigned as the team’s president of basketball operations on April 9. LeBron James missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004-05, a poor start in his first season with Los Angeles. Then, Walton was fired, and has most recently been accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit by former television host Kelli Tennant.